IRIS Holds Annual Membership Meeting

Representatives from the IRIS Member Institutions, members of the seismological community, interested students and friends, and a group of IRIS staff gathered at the Yank Sing Restaurant in San Francisco on Monday evening, December 15, 2008, for the Annual IRIS Membership Meeting. This popular and well-attended event kicked off with a reception that included a wide assortment of Yank Sing's award-winning dim sum and provided an opportunity for attendees to interact in a casual setting.

Susan Beck, chair of the IRIS Board of Directors, called the business meeting to order. She and David Simpson, IRIS President, provided a brief overview of IRIS' 2008 accomplishments and discussed some of IRIS' near-term objectives. Then each of the chairs of the IRIS Standing Committees, representing the IRIS core programs, and the chairs of the International Working Group, USArray, and the Planning Committee made a short presentation that reviewed each committees' major activities throughout the year. Sincere thanks were also expressed to Standing Committee members whose term was expiring, and new members of each Standing Committee were identified and welcomed. Bob Detrick, Director of the National Science Foundation's Division of Earth Sciences, was invited to share his vision for seismology and Earth science research. Cliff Frohlich of the University of Texas at Austin and Uri ten Brink of the US Geological Survey were recognized for serving as the speakers for the 2008 IRIS/SSA Distinguished Lectureship Series. The meeting ended by congratulating Tim Ahern, Manager of the Data Management Center in Seattle, for his 20 years of service to IRIS.

David Simpson, IRIS President and Anne Meltzer, Chair of the IRIS International Working Group.	Leslie Linn, IRIS Executive Assistant.

Robert Detrick, NSF Division Director for Earth Sciences.

Tim Ahern, Program Manager of the IRIS Data Management Center, receives 20-year award from IRIS President David Simpson.	2008 IRIS/SSA Distinguished Lectureship Speaker Cliff Frohlich of the University of Texas at Austin is thanked for his participation by Michael Wysession, Chair of the IRIS Education and Outreach Standing Committee.